Energy absorbing vehicle fender

ABSTRACT

A fender for absorbing forces generated from an impact includes a depending attachment flange which comprises a vertically aligned section depending from an exterior portion of the fender and a horizontally aligned section depending from the vertically aligned section adapted for mounting to a vehicle wherein the vertically aligned section includes a plurality of contoured portions for enhancing the stiffness of the vertically aligned section.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationPCT/US04/29279 and claims rights of priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 fromU.S. patent application Ser. No. PCT/US04/29279 filed on Sep. 3, 2004and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/500,633 filed on Sep. 5,2003, which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention relates to a vehicle fender of the type that is adaptablefor pedestrian protection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Future legislation in Japan and European countries may require an energyabsorbent design for vehicle fender systems to help protect apedestrian's head and body from impact with an automotive fender.

Typically, a metal fender is attached to the body of vehicle through arigid support member sometimes referred to as a shotgun or apron panel.This rigid member, which extends lengthwise of the vehicle, is typicallyconnected to the frame of the automobile and forms a horizontallydisposed apron just under the hood for attachment of the fender. A pairof rigid members is positioned on either side of the forward or enginecompartment for attachment to respective fenders. An L-shaped flange,which is formed as part of the fender, projects into the interior of theforward compartment and is attached to the apron of the rigid member.U.S. Pat. No. 6,547,316 to Chung describes a fender panel having impactabsorption utilizing a bent part located under the hood which isattached between the flange of the fender and the apron of the supportmember. U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,341 to Lee relates to an impact absorptionwhere the part between the flange of the fender and apron includes apair of legs extending outwardly and downwardly from the fender flangeto the apron of the support member. The '316 patent indicates theintermediate bent part provides for the energy absorption in the eventof a crash to a walker to decrease the degree of his or her injury.

The solutions for pedestrian protection set forth in the above patentsrely on increasing the distance between the flange of the fender and therigid support member and inserting a separate, relatively weakstructure, between the flange of the fender and the rigid supportmember. The separate weak structure is deformable under a relatively lowforce to enhance pedestrian protection. Publications No.:US2002/0060474A1 and US2003/0015890A1 are primarily directed to metalfenders which are inherently very stiff.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Typical fenders have a relatively short distance between the upped edgeof the fender and attachment of the flange to the rigid support memberor so-called shotgun. In order to comply with upcoming pedestrian safetyrequirements, in particular, proposed head impact requirements, thisarea of the vehicle presents a problem. In order to comply with theserequirements, the structure of the fender and the support of the fenderare desirable altered so that an intrusion space is created so thatdeceleration of an object upon impact with the fender remains relativelylow so that the forces of impact are reduced.

According to an embodiment, the intrusion distance for a plastic fenderis desirably increased by lowering the position of the rigid supportmember or shotgun. According to an embodiment, the dimensional stabilityof the fender is retained while providing for a desirable crushing ofthe fender upon impact. The reaction of the fender to an intrusion forceis desirably provided at the proper level so as to absorb the impactenergy force in the available crush distance. According to anembodiment, an integrated solution is incorporated into a thermoplasticfender that is adaptable for pedestrian safety. According to anembodiment, the crushable features of the fender require no additionalparts and no secondary operations.

According to an embodiment, the attachment flange has a verticallyaligned section that can be tuned to reduce the forces of impact from atop frontal position when crushed by an object but is provided withsufficient stiffness in the other directions to provide dimensionalstability.

According to an embodiment, the fender is adapted for attachment to avehicle for absorbing forces generated from an impact. A dependingattachment flange comprises a vertically aligned section depending froman exterior portion of said fender and a horizontally aligned sectiondepending from the vertically aligned section at a juncture. Thevertically aligned section includes a plurality of contoured portionsfor enhancing the stiffness of the vertically aligned section whereineach of the contoured portions merge with the vertically aligned sectionand the horizontally aligned flange section to provide stiffening.

Variations are set forth herein and it is contemplated that multipledesign features of different shapes can be integrated into thevertically aligned section of the attachment flange so that a desiredand sufficient stability may be obtained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a fender configuration of theprior art.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing an embodiment of a fenderconfiguration.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of the verticallyaligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of the verticallyaligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of the verticallyaligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of the verticallyaligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of the verticallyaligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of the verticallyaligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of the verticallyaligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of thevertically aligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of thevertically aligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 12 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of thevertically aligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 13 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of thevertically aligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 14 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of thevertically aligned section of the attachment flange.

FIG. 15 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of thevertically aligned section of the attachment flange.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows partial cross sectional view of a typical prior artmounting of a metal fender 2, which is fixedly secured to support member6 with a nut and bolt shown at 7. A hood is shown at reference number 1.The fender 2 includes a flanged portion having a vertically dependingsection 4 joined to a horizontally aligned section 5. A recess portion 3extends downwardly into the forward compartment from the exteriorsurface and provides for the seating of the hood 1 when the hood is in aclosed position. The recess portion 3 includes an exterior rim at itsjunction with the exterior portion of the fender 2. As illustrated inFIG. 1, the height of vertically depending section 4 is relatively shortso that the distance between the top of fender 2 and the rigid supportmember 6 is a relatively short distance so that very little space isprovided for intrusion of an object during impact before the rigidsupport member 6 is contacted.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment where the height of the verticallyaligned section 4 of the attachment flange is sufficient to permit thefender 2 to crush upon impact while providing for clearance of supportmember 6 from the intruding object. The fender 2 includes an exteriorlyfacing portion having an aesthetic exterior surface. A recess portion 3extends downwardly into the forward compartment from the exteriorsurface and provides for the seating of the hood 1 when the hood is in aclosed position. The recess portion 3 includes an exterior rim at itsjunction with the exterior portion of the fender 2. An attachment flangeportion of the fender 2 is fixedly mounted to a support member 6, whichtypically provides for a rigid mounting of the fender 2. The supportmember 6 is known in the art as a shotgun and is typically of metalconstruction and is mounted to the frame of the vehicle. The flangeportion includes a vertically aligned section 4, which joins the recessportion 3 along an interior rim, and a horizontally aligned section 5,which extends toward the interior of the forward compartment adjacentthe support member 6 for attachment thereto. The vertically alignedsection 4 is joined to the horizontally aligned section 5 at a junctureto form the attachment flange (4, 5). The horizontally aligned section 5of the flange is secured to a matching horizontally aligned surface ofthe support member 6. As shown in the drawings fasteners 7 in the formof bolts pass through openings 8 in the horizontally aligned section 5of the flange and through holes in the apron or horizontally alignedportion of the support member 6. The attachment flange or flangedportion as generally referred to in this specification includes thevertically aligned section 4 and the horizontally aligned section 5.

According to an embodiment, the fender is a plastic material. Typicalplastic materials include engineering thermoplastics. Typicalthermoplastic resins include, but are not limited thereto,polycarbonates, copolyester carbonates, polyphenylene ethers,polyurethanes, polyethylenes (high and low density) polypropylenes,elastomeric thermoplastics, and the like, and blends thereof with otherpolymers such as polycarbonate/polybutylene terephthalate, polyphenyleneether/high impact polystyrene,polycarbonate/acryconitrile-butadiene-styrene, and the like, and blendsof the above polymers. One thermoplastic resin is apolycarbonate/polybutylene terephthalate combination sold by GeneralElectric Company under the trademark XENOY® resin. A preferredthermoplastic resin is a polyphenylene ether blend with polyamide soldby General Electric Company under the name NORYL GTX® resin. Fillersincluding fibers such as glass and nano type composites includingnanotubes may also be employed with the thermoplastic used herein.

Desirably the entire fender 2, including the recess portion 3 forseating the hood and the attachment flange, (4, 5) which secures thefender 2 to the vehicle support member 6, are formed as a unitary partfrom a thermoplastic material. The vertically aligned section 4 of theattachment flange (4, 5), which provides support for the exteriorportion of the fender 2, is adapted to crush upon a predetermined impactwhile providing dimensional stability for the fender 2 during normaluse. The vertically aligned section 4 has sufficient height or crushdistance to crushably absorb an impact without the rigid support member6 being forcibly impacted. As shown in FIG. 1, the vertically alignedsection 4 of the flange forms a wall extending between the interior rimof the recess 3 and the horizontally aligned section 5 of the attachmentflange (4,5). The wall has a contoured shape to provide for stiffeningso as to resist forces in a direction substantially normal to the wall.The contoured shape comprises variations in the form of protuberances orindentations, which are desirably connected to or adjacent, thehorizontally aligned flange portion to provide stiffness to resistforces in the lateral direction. Preferable the contoured portion orvariations 10 merge with both the vertically aligned flange section 4and the horizontally aligned flange section 5. According to a preferredembodiment, the plurality of contoured portions or variations 10 arespaced a predetermined distance below the rim of the recess 3. With thisconfiguration, the vertically aligned section is more prone to crushadjacent recess 3. In a preferred configuration, the contoured portion10 acts to stiffen the flange and is in the form of a protuberance,which extends between the horizontal section of the flange and thevertically aligned section 4 of the flange. In a preferred embodiment aplurality of stiffing portions are provided along the length of thevertical section or wall.

The vertical height of the vertically aligned section 4 of the flangemay vary from vehicle to vehicle and is preferable equal to or greaterthan about 60 millimeters (mm). Preferable the height of the verticallyaligned section 4 is from about 60 to about 100 millimeters. Heights onthe order of 80 are typically in accordance with the present invention.Preferably at least a portion of the contoured portion or variation 10extends over about two-thirds of the height of the vertically alignedsection 4 of the flange. Preferable the contoured portion or variation10 extends upwardly from the horizontally aligned section 5 of theflange. As described above, the contoured portion 10 preferable mergeswith the vertically and horizontally aligned sections, 4 and 5, so as tostrengthen the joint or junction of the respective sections 4 and 5.

During an impact, the crushable wall desirably deforms to absorb theenergy of impact. The energy absorption efficiency of the variations isadaptable for obtaining the desired stiffness for dimensional stabilityand reducing the forces of impact. The impact response of the verticallyaligned section 4 may be tuned for a specific vehicle by the use ofmaterials of different density, of different thickness, and geometry.According to various embodiments, energy from an impact may becontrolled by the shape of the contoured portion, by the number ofvariations, by the height of the variation as measured from thehorizontal flange, by the width of the variation, by the depth of thevariation, by providing openings in the vertical aligned section 4 ofthe flange, by providing openings in a contoured portion or variation,or by variations in thickness of the wall, by variations in the junctureof a protuberance with wall and the horizontal section of the flange.One or more features may be varied to tune the fender to absorber energyof specific impact levels. The geometry may also depend upon spacelimitation or customer styling or higher or lower package spaceavailable.

As shown in FIG. 3, the contoured portions 10 are in the form ofmulti-sided projections having a pair of side walls and a top wall whichjoin a front wall portion spaced from the vertical wall of thevertically aligned section 4 of the flange. FIG. 4 illustrates anembodiment of FIG. 3 where a contoured portion 10 includes an opening orcutout 13. FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of FIG. 4 where openings 15are provided in the vertically aligned section 4 of the flange inaddition to the opening 13 in the contoured portion 10. FIG. 6illustrates a vertically aligned section 4 of the flange having anevenly spaced arrangement of contoured portions 10 with each contouredportion 10 having an opening 13. FIG. 7 illustrates an embodimentutilizing openings 13 in the contoured portion 10 and in the verticalsection of the flange 4 having different shapes. FIG. 8 illustrates acontoured portion 10 having two joining planar surfaces extendingbetween the respective vertical and horizontal sections, 4 and 5, of theflange. The joining surfaces from a hexagonal shape at the junctureswith the flange with two junctures being with the vertically alignedsection 4 and two junctures being with the horizontally aligned section5 of the flange. In the configuration shown, respective adjacentcontours 10 also form a juncture. FIG. 9 illustrates a contour section10 having a pair of intersecting planes which form a triangular shape atthe intersection of the respective vertically and horizontally alignedsections, 4 and 5. FIG. 10 illustrates a modification of the contouredsection of FIG. 9 where a sloping planar section is positionedintermediate the pair of intersecting planes. FIG. 11 illustrates anembodiment of FIG. 10 where various sloping planes are utilized to formthe contoured portion 10. FIGS. 11, 12, 13, and 15 illustrate contouredportions 10 utilizing shaped surfaces. Such shaped surfaces may includeoval, parabolic or other curved shapes, which may be either symmetricalor unsymmetrical.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of thisinvention as disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objectsstated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible tomodifications, variations, and changes without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention being limited only in terms of theappended claims.

1. A fender adapted for attachment to a vehicle for absorbing forcesgenerated from an impact, said fender comprising a depending attachmentflange, said attachment flange comprising a vertically aligned sectiondepending from an exterior portion of said fender and a horizontallyaligned section depending from said vertically aligned section at ajuncture, said vertically aligned section including a plurality ofcontoured portions for enhancing the stiffness of the vertically alignedsection, each of said contoured portions merging with said verticallyaligned section and said horizontally aligned flange section to providestiffening.
 2. A fender according to claim 1 wherein the vertical heightof the vertically aligned section 4 of the flange equal to or greaterthan about 60 millimeters.
 3. A fender according to claim 1 wherein theheight of said vertically aligned section is from about 60 to about 100millimeters.
 4. A fender according to claim 1 wherein at least a portionof the contoured portion extends over about two-thirds of the height ofthe vertically aligned section of the flange.
 5. A fender according toclaim 1 being adapted to mate with a hood wherein said fender includesan exteriorly facing portion having an aesthetic exterior surface, andrecess portion extending away from the aesthetic exterior for theseating of said hood when said hood is in a closed position.
 6. A fenderaccording to claim 1 wherein said vertically aligned section is joinedto said horizontally aligned section at a juncture to form saidattachment flange.
 7. A fender according to claim 1 being adapted to bemounted to a vehicle support member wherein said horizontally alignedsection of said flange is adapted to be secured to a matchinghorizontally aligned surface of said support member.
 8. A fenderaccording to claim 1 wherein said fender consist substantially entirelyof a plastic material.
 9. A fender according to claim 1 wherein saidfender consist substantially entirely of a thermoplastic material.
 10. Afender according to claim 1 wherein said fender consist substantiallyentirely of a plastic material selected from the group consisting of apolycarbonate, copolyester carbonate, polyphenylene ether, polyurethane,polyethylene, polypropylene.
 11. A fender according to claim 1 whereinsaid fender consist substantially entirely of a blend of a plasticmaterial selected from the group consisting of apolycarbonate/polybutylene terephthalate blend, polyphenylene ether/highimpact polystyrene blend, polycarbonate/acryconitrile-butadiene-styreneblend, and blends thereof.
 12. A fender according to claim 1 comprisingwherein the vertically aligned section of said attachment flange isadapted to crush upon a predetermined impact and provides dimensionalstability for the said fender during normal use.
 13. A fender accordingto claim 1 wherein said vertically aligned section comprises at leastone contoured portion to provide for stiffening and resist forces in alateral direction to said vertically aligned section.
 14. A fenderaccording to claim 1 wherein said contoured portion extends upwardlyfrom the horizontally aligned section of said flange.
 15. A fenderaccording to claim 1 wherein said contoured portion includes and openingfor reducing the stiffness of said contoured portion.
 16. A fenderaccording to claim adapted for attachment to a vehicle for absorbingforces generated from an impact according to claim 2 said fender consistessentially of a single integral unit of molded thermoplastic material.